Priming means for internal-combustion engines.



R. RICKETTS. PRIMING MEANS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. I9I6- Patented Apr.

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j' Be it-known that I, JAMES R. g a trizen ofjthe United States, residingat" -Beach'; the county of Los t ate of California, have inventedja'new j fuL'Improvement in lrimingMeans V ternal-Gombustion Engines, o'fwhic following..,is a specification. 1 151 he operation o fiinternal combustion? and partieularly'the type ofsuch' 'i employed for supplying motive powerto motor vehicles of themodern types, with'both high-"and low grade fuels, when e engine has become cold, it is a di fiic1i1 t1 '-at.-timesfto start the engine-rlmning;

.. i lly after relatively long period of Q it necessary to spi'n the vcrank Y shzift,-;i no.. starter'medium is tilausufiicient"amount of the; Introduced intothe combustion *tzhamhers of el has been lthe"'engine. "Even" when a self starter is,

' employed, as'in allmoderncars; quite a pro-' tracted effort isneces'sary on-the part of the applicablereadily and easily to: the intake;

rter'beforethe' engine may be placed in .sop

' "My mast, therefore, 'relatesto' nae-g for obviating the difliculties suggested above means.

and has for an object the provis on of manifoldof the engine whereby a limited supply of fuel from alra'u'xiliary tank maybe introduced ;into the manifold. and from thence .into' the combustion chamhersof the v engine by means'o'ftheinitial suction in the j engine cylinders caused by but a slight movestons when the crank shaft ment of the pi is turned preparatory to starting the -"en-.

gine, the fuel tank provided with my de vice being capable of holding. but'a small quantity of fuel and being located at;a point preferably beneath the level of the fuel intake of the engineso that the, fuel fed from the tank may-onlybe supplied by suction and not otherwise.

A further object, of my invention is to provide 'means for operably connecting the auxiliary fuel supply means with the starting rod-or lever which operates the self starting-mechanism; so that the supply of fuel from the auxiliary tank may be intro' duced in a small jet into theengine simultaneously with the movement of the starter,

. thus reducing the effort of the starter to a minimumand effecting a considerable econ.- omy in the operation of the veh cle.

.A further object is to provide means for .ing my 1deff'oe'hy' either manual or mechanical means." r

Afflfurtheri object is to provide means in troduc'tion;with the fuel into the intake manifold, .so that, the priming operation may be greatly. facilitated. Otherpbjects may appear asthe description of my inven- 131011 progresses.

Referring to the drawings; which simihe 'gy alve' for admitting a limited 'quant1ty-.;offa'1r fromthaaatmosphere for ini laricharac'ters of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 1s a sectional elevation of a modern automobile showing the application of my priming device thereto, and with certain parts of the vehicle and operating mechanism "omitted for clarity. .'F1g. 2 is a fragmentary plan of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse elevation, sub- 1 stantially enlarged; of the lever which connects the starting mechanism with the primingdevice for simultaneous operation. Fig 451s an enlarged longitudinal section of the priming valve; Fig. 5 is a transverse section of Fig. 1 on the line 5-5; and Fig. 6 is a similansection of the same on the line 6-6. ongthe modern types of motor vehicles nlis shown in the drawings for the purpose of illustrating my invention, but it-should be understood that my device may be as readily applied to any of the several types of such vellcles as to the particular type shown,- it

being necessary to change only the manner of connecting the priming and starting means from that shown, and this change should only be slight, as-will readily appear. In the drawings 1 is a motor vehicle body having a radiator-2 at the front end of the hood 'as usuah is the engine which is provided with the intake manifold 4 connected. with a carbureter, not shown, by means of the pipe 5. The main fuel supply tank 6 is shown in front of-the dash board 7 above the level of the engine and the fuel is supplied therefrom by means of a pipeS.

I provide the auxiliary fuel supply tank}?- Which is located just behind the radiator 2 and above the frame member 10. The tank 9 has a suitable filling plug or cap 11 p'rovided with a suitable air vent to permit the entrance of air to the tank whenthe fuel is withdrawn at the top and a discharge pipe is bored at to receive the end of the small as to permit the flow of the fuel from the- I :u 1 ing wit-ha sm 0' won 14 1n therein for facilita the'tank and valve y and the upper end thereof being connected to thebottom of the valve body midway of the ends. 'Thedischarging end of the valve body 13 pipe 16 which has a union'l'f and is connected to the intake manifold-4, .the'pi e being secured suitably to the end of-the va ve body so as to prevent leakage'of the fuel therefrom The valve body 13 has a large valve chamber 18 formed in the' end opposite the chamber 18 is threaded internally toreceive the Similarly threaded extension 19 on-the] he inner end of the valve chamber 18 has a te )20 'valve head 20;

pered valve 'seet21 formed therein to receive the yalve 22 the stem 24.- of which is slidabl mounted in a bore 23 in the valve head an carrieslsprzg 25 within the chamber 18 which isndap to compress between the end of the valve head and the valve. 4 The valve 2100mmunicates with the discharge opening '15 so pipe 12, through the chamber 18, and thence into the pipe 16 by means of whichit is con-. ducted to the intake manifold, 4. The

s rin 25 serves tonormally close the valve and iscompressed whenthe valve stelnfiis moved outwardly in the valve head 20, thus 9 opening the communicating passage is enlarged at the outer end so that itmay mitted to the chamber 18'for mixture with the liquid fuel. The vent 27 also servesto' I prevent any slight leakage of the: fuel through the valve to the manifold when the valve is closed but is. imperfectly seated, as it is possible that such a leakage may ensue should the vent be omitted. Q

The valve stein 24: is connected at the outer end with one endof an operating rod 28 which may be extended through the dash board 7 and provided with a suitable knob 29,- as shown in full lines in F igs. 1 and 2, or this rod may be extended throughthe radiator 2 as shown in broken lines, the position of the valve body 13 being changed,

as shown, to conform to the change in the valve operating rod. When the device is used on cars not provided with self starters, the rod 28 should preferably be positioned as shown in broken lines so that the end of sped by the hand when the rod may be the startingcran is turned by manual effort, but in uthe case of cars having. self startersthii rodsh9uldhecqnvenient to the terpoaed its connection with :startingrod. 31 which is slidlb extending through theoluga is moved forward by meansof itse the an. an iin aanr" in front; of the ash and the allyiionnted in the foot similar 00 r 88, both of the mum-some or pivot-i y I I .BQ md-is; 1 operable b fthe'foot of the operator,

33 being held :immovably' on the by meansof set screws 84.," A lever Bfiixi-pifi oted Marthe-center on a in or m 86 ofthe bracket 88, which is saitablymttached 't0 ..the. dash I iboard'l, endthe opposite ended this lever discharge pipe 16 and the outer end ofth e provided with yokes 89 and 40 which .respectivelyengnge .the rods28 and '31 and m g-the vehicle, the lower y k 400i the lever with. the collar 33 on the meal, and' tlie.

upp g ypke' 39 of the lever similarly moves the valve body 13- the initial movement ofthe crankshaft; of the engine bythe" starting mechanism serves to suck a quanthe extremely caliber of the, pipes 12 and 15 11w:

of thepistons which mm the suction.

' 28.-refarward bymeans of itse ment with the collar 30 on the 28.

- movement {of the; valve operating rod 28 withdraws the valve 22' from its 'seat21' in" o 'suflicient supply v b of the fuel w th but ever slight movement tween the pipes Band 15. The valvehead.

In engines of this character an excessive supply "of fuel' into the combustion chamhere will efiect the stoppageor ln'lling of prowtherengine and ifit'were "possible for the I fuel-from the tank9 to leak into the manifold'during the operationof the an result might ensue. It is to be In:- however, that such a leaka l e this 'r is impossible" with .the device shown, fort e tank 9 beingpositioned below the level of the intake of the engine, the fuel from the tank can only .be introduced into the manifold-l byjmeans 0f. the suction therein and thi'ssuction serves to clo se the valve passages and to more firmly seat the valve 22." k y It is conceived to be posible to substantially modify the structure of my invention and change it from that shown in "order to meet conditions .which are peculiar to various types and makes of vehicles, without enlarging the scope or departing from the spirit of my invention.

. Having thus described myinveixh'o'n, what.

I claim is:

1. In apriming device for internal com-,1

bustion engines, thecomhination with the engine and the fuel intake manifold there for,.and starting means for said cngineyof a fuel arranged to permitthe with drawa'l of'fl'm fuel therefrom by suction and supported below said manifold, a combined air-and fuel valve intermediate of and con neeted with said tank and said manifold, and an operating member for said valve extended to a point Convenient to the operator and'cap'able of operation independently of and with said starting means for simultaneously admitting air and fuel to the enginecylinders coincident-1y with the initial movement of the pistons.

2. In a priming device for internal combustion engines, the combination with the engine and the fuel intake manifold therefor, of aliquid fuel tank arrangedto pen Init'the Witlulraival of the fuel therefrom by suction, said .ta'nk being sunoorted at a point lowerthan the plane of said 1n-ani 7 fold, a combined air and fuel valve intermediate of and connected with said tank and said manifold for normally closing com desii'ed quantities of air and fuel into the Qniunication th-erebetween and for admitting engine elements. the starting rod forelanlp ing said engine, a i'oclconnected with, said 1 valve and extendecl into the body of the ,ve-

hiele for manually" operating said valve, and" a pivotally ,simnofted leverconnected with s'ajid operating rocl gand with sa-idsta rting rod for openingsaid fvalve coincidently with the operation of saidstarting rod, foladmitting' fuel and air' to the engine cylinders with the initialstroke of the pistons Signed at Long'Bea'eh, inlthe county of 2 Los Angeles and Statefof California, this i 

